journal of european integration history revue d'histoire de l ...

63In Search of the Greatest Common Denominator.Germany and the Hague Summit Conference 1969Claudia HiepelThe adept diplomacy of Willy Brandt and, in particular, his ability to readjust theFranco-German axis are widely held to have paved the way for the success of theHeads of State and Government conference in The Hague on 1 and 2 December1969. Brandt used a skilful mixture of demands and concessions to help persuadethe French president Georges Pompidou to yield on the all-decisive issue of theenlargement of the European Community (EC), a question that had poisoned theatmosphere of European cooperation in 1969. Brandt is regarded as having beenresponsible for the success of a conference that broke the impasse on enlargementand opened the door for re-launching Europe.Although this view has been generally accepted, the change of government inGermany in October 1969 nonetheless had an impact on the European policy of theFederal Republic in general and on the preparations for the conference inparticular. Though initially having been a strong and self-confident Foreignminister, Willy Brandt was ultimately bound by the German Chancellor’s policy‘guidelines’ in the ‘Grand Coalition’, in which the Social Democrats served asjunior partners. The disputes about responsibilities between Kurt-Georg Kiesinger,the Christian-Democratic Chancellor, and Brandt, most of which took place behindthe scenes, arose from their different views on German foreign policy towards theEast. Although they were able to discuss the issue of European integration in arelatively harmonious manner, they had different views on how far France shouldbe “pushed” to solve Europe’s problems and on whether Germany should adopt aconciliatory stance. Even more forcefully than Kiesinger, Brandt pleaded forGerman “independence and impartiality” towards Paris in European policy. 1The establishment of the ‘Small Coalition’ of Social Democrats and LiberalDemocrats permitted the new elected Chancellor Willy Brandt to realise his foreignpolicy ideals. European policy and the coming Hague summit became the toppriority for the short-term political agenda. In his first government statement in theGerman Bundestag on 28 October 1969, Brandt announced:“At the conference in The Hague, the federal government will work towardsintroducing effective measures for deepening and enlarging the Community andstrengthening political cooperation”. 21. Willy-Brandt-Archiv [WBA] im Archiv der sozialen Demokratie der Friedrich-Ebert-StiftungBonn [AsD], Bestand Bundesminister des Auswärtigen und Vizekanzler 18, Notizen und Stichwortefür Erklärung über deutsche Außenpolitik vor Botschafterkonferenz in Viña del Mar,13.10.1968.2. Bundeskanzler Brandt. Reden und Interviews, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1971, pp.11-35,here: p.34.